Scottish ambush thwarted by green giants

When Ireland were threatened, their engine-room pairing of Paul OConnell and Malcolm OKelly went into overdrive

AT THE end of Ireland-Scotland matches, they now present the Centenary Quaich to the winning captain. A quaich is an old Celtic drinking vessel and, over the years in Ireland, they have had their uses. Yet as the Princess Royal presented Paul O’Connell with this impressive silver trophy, the Irish skipper accepted it graciously but without any hint of celebration.

In that moment there was the evidence of Ireland’s heightened ambition. Many people think this team in green can win the Six Nations championship, and through the late afternoon in Edinburgh you could tell that not all of the believers were outside the Irish changing room. O’Connell took the quaich, smiled the smile but, mentally, he had already moved on: England, Lansdowne Road, two weeks from now.

What was most impressive about an emphatic Irish victory was the ease with which the team coped without Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy.